Current projects:
social security forecasting in Kazakhstan, multi regional social security forecasting in Kyrgyzstan, mortality risk in Kazakhstan, migration in the former USSR, disability risk in Russia, determinants of health care utilization in Russia, Russian financial sector development, suburbanization in Indian cities, minority enrollments in graduate economics programs, determinants of poverty in Kyrgyzstan.

Charles Becker is interested in exploring the economies of such countries as Kazakhstan, India, sub-Saharan Africa, Russia, and Kyrgyzstan. His research has focused on economic demography, social security system forecasting, CGE modeling, mortality and disability risk, determinants of health care utilization, computable general equilibrium simulation modeling, and urban economics. His on-going projects involve assessing infant mortality rates, poverty in developing countries, accidental deaths in middle-income countries, and the performance of minority students in Economics doctoral programs. He recently worked with Irina Merkuryeva on a project investigating, “Disability Risk and Miraculous Recoveries in Russia,” and with Rebecca Anthopolos on, “Gobal Infant Mortality: Initial results from a cross-country infant mortality comparison project.” He also collaborated with Grigory Marchenko, Sabit Khakimzhanov, Ai-Gul Seitenova, and Vladimir Ivliev on a project entitled, “Social Secutiry Reform in Transition Economies: Lessons from Kazakhstan,” and with Amitava Krishna Dutt and Jaime Ros on, “Urbanization and Rural-Urban Migration.”

Areas of Interest:

pension/social security system forecastingurbanization and migration in developing countriesinter-regional migration in the former USSRmortality and disability in the former USSRpopulation aging and fertility in developing and transition countriesUS minority student performance and progression to graduate study